Captain's Log
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WIGHT SKY
October 1st 2008
(Tuesday 2330) The ship is now safely at anchor off St. Helen’s Fort and that is effectively the end of our journey. Tomorrow morning we will take her into Portsmouth where she will be turned back from a ‘cargo ship’, as registered for the delivery voyage, to a Lymington to Yarmouth ferry.
Our ‘portacabin’ on the garage deck, where we have slept since September 15th, will disappear to make way for cars. The galley, where Tony has consistently turned out too many good things to eat, will revert to the crew messroom, and the satellite dome will disappear from the top of the wheelhouse – it isn’t really necessary for a three mile crossing! Our ‘dining room’ will be populated with passengers in the near future and it will be strange at first to wonder what all those people are doing on ‘our’ ship!
Thanks to Jim and Paul, Tom and Cheeky, Barbara and ‘H’, for keeping us going in the right direction, Nigel, Vince and Jim for providing the motive power, Steve and Ron for being about all the time to do whatever was required. Tony, the cook, is probably going to cash in on his success by opening a clothing shop for people with larger waists.
Thanks also to all the land based assistance from Kraljevica, Portsmouth and Lymington, mostly conducted over a satellite link with a mind of its own!
The ‘Big Brother’ experiment to coop up 13 people in a steel box and send them 3,200 miles across the ocean would not have made good television as nobody threw their toys out of the pram, everyone worked well as a team, the diary room was empty and nobody used the swimming pool – they said it was too deep!
Finally thanks to everyone who followed our ‘cruise’ on the internet.
Captain Peter Mitchell
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Tuesday 30th September 2008 We rounded Ushant this morning with the wind still in the north. On turning the corner to head up the English channel we remembered the meaning of the term ‘rolling home’ as the wind slowly strengthened and we ran past Guernsey with the wind behind us on our final course towards the Nab tower off the East end of the Isle of Wight.
If the weather allows us to put up our signal flags they will read ‘Wight Sky 551 2008.’
551 is the Croatian yard number for the vessel. 550 is the Wight Light and 552 will be the Wight Sun.
Don’t miss the last episode tomorrow of the Wight Sky’s longest voyage before she settles down on her scheduled thirty minute crossings to Yarmouth from Lymington.
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Monday 29th September 2008
Still traversing the Bay of Biscay, with it’s characteristic long low swell when there is little wind about and expect to be off Ushant tomorrow where we will start turning East into the English Channel.
Although everyone has kept well on top of things more tidying up has been going on and things put away as we expect to roll more rounding Ushant. This will be a novelty as, apart from a couple of brief occasions since leaving Croatia, the ship has not rolled enough for anything to slide about.
The ironing board is getting a lot of use now, and experiments have shown that creases in shirts disappear faster if you actually plug the iron in!
The cards were out last night and a golf session going on. Steve scored a hole in one, very commendable even though it was a computer game.
The weather forecast is not brilliant but we would hope to be in the Channel before the wind turns to the West and increases and it should push us along part of the way with the spring tide to give us time in hand to arrive at Portsmouth on Wednesday morning. Nothing is ever in black and white, however, where the weather and tides are concerned.
We’ve just been called up by the cruise liner Ventura who spotted our logo from seven miles away. One of her watchkeepers is Wendy O’Donnell who was working for Wightlink not so long ago. She sends her regards to everyone.
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Sunday 28th September
Yesterday evening was cottage pie night, although there was the inevitable debate as to whether it was a cottage or a shepherd type pie. This was followed by fruit salad and ice cream with raspberry sauce and cheese and biscuits for those that were still hungry. Any family meeting the vessel in Portsmouth please bring a diet sheet with you!
We ran out of Portugal during the early morning and were back in Spanish waters. The original plan was to stop at Vigo but we have a plentiful supply of fuel and water to get us home.
In a fresh breeze and moderate swell we ploughed past Cape Finisterre with a few dolphins in attendance and a seemingly endless stream of large container ships travelling at more than twice our speed passing unusually close to us – no doubt to peer at our ‘Wightlink’ logo and wonder when we started doing cruises.
We are now traversing the infamous waters of the ‘Plaine Abyssale de Biscay’ and there aren’t many people who can say they have done that in an Isle of Wight ferry.
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Saturday 27th September 2008
Tom’s curry proved a great success last night but we suspect it may have had something to do with the dense rolling fog that came down as we were rounding Cape St. Vincent a few hours later. Luckily it disappeared by 0100 and, with the cessation of our fog horn, the gentle Northerl’y swell rocked everyone to sleep ( except, I trust, the 12 – 4 watchkeepers!)
Vast numbers of squid showed up in our searchlight during the night.
We have been making a good speed since leaving Gibraltar but I was a bit concerned when Barbara called down from the bridge this morning and said that Wales was on the port beam. Luckily it turned out to be ‘a’ whale which was jogging along minding it’s own business and curving up out of the water every now and then.
We could see fog over the Portuguese coast from daylight and it gradually edged towards us and enveloped the ship as we were passing Lisbon at 1000. The sun burnt it off by late morning and the sea is now nice and flat apart from a gentle swell. Several dolphins have just been playing around the bow.
We expect to reach the Bay of Biscay at Cape Finisterre by 1300 tomorrow.
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Friday 26th September
Shopping was the order of the day for some yesterday, the afternoon spent walking the high street, going into every shop and coming back with nothing but a tacky tea towel and a toy monkey with oversized legs.
Others went up to the caves and the top of the Rock. Jim and Barbara swore the taxi was driven by a monkey and we are waiting to see the proof on film.
Some came back with various items of food which Tom spent several hours yesterday evening converting into a curry which was left overnight to ‘mature’ and be enjoyed this evening – luckily we took on lots of water yesterday!
We left Gibraltar at 0740 this morning with all hands suitably refreshed by our short stay. The top of the Rock was lost in the cloud and everything was very grey.
The weather brightened up the further we got into the straits and we had sunshine by the time we passed out into the Atlantic between Cape Espartel and Cape Trafalgar with a good following wind.
We will leave Spain behind for a bit this evening and start tracking along the Portuguese coast, arriving at Cape de S. Vicente about two in the morning where we finally head North towards Portsmouth.
Everything is a bit quiet this afternoon, with people catching up on zzzz’s or taking in a few rays on the sun deck while we still have the opportunity.
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Thursday 25th September
Noon position – Ship: No. 3 berth east, Gibraltar harbour. Crew: Pussers Rum Bar, Ocean Village, Gibraltar.
We made it to the pilot off Europa Point for our 1500 ETA and thoroughly confused everything by saying we wanted to go port side to alongside but were actually travelling backwards so the port side was now the starboard side.
It is a bit of a blast from the past in the harbour with several tugs and fuel barges which have escaped from Portsmouth or other naval harbours. Names have changed, the Oilwell is now the Dragonfish, but the colours are still the same.
We fuelled and took on essential supplies of bacon and sausages yesterday evening and then moved to a quiet berth in the corner of the harbour. This morning we filled up with fresh water and are scheduled to leave at 0800 tomorrow morning.
Although we still have to keep watches there is plenty of opportunity for a run ashore and several crewmembers have gone to have a look at the Rock this afternoon.
The weather overview is looking good at the moment up as far as Vigo on the NW Spanish coast but everything changes where high coastlines are involved and conditions become very local and, to a certain extent, unpredictable.
Whoops! I seem to have just spent £19 on peaches - but they are very nice!
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Wednesday 24th September
We passed Cartagena just after noon yesterday, then rounded Cape de Gata and trundled past Almeria.
The barbeque was flashed up in the evening to celebrate Steve’s birthday. Because of the strengthening wind we put it on the mezzanine car deck, henceforth to be known as the barbeque deck. The sausages tasted much better on the barbeque than in the oven and the cake went down very well.
About 2130 a cardboard box blew along the main car deck, indicating that the wind was on the way up yet again. Sure enough we had to slow down just when we were catching up so well. However, about 0500 we were back up to full speed and passed Malaga in good time to make our revised time of 1500 at the pilot station at Gibraltar, where we are due to top up on fuel, water and possibly some more sausages.
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Tuesday 23rd September
Yesterday afternoon and evening we were running down through the Depressione di Vallencia between the mainland and Mallorca and it certainly lived up to it’s name with continuous thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rain which lasted until one o’clock this morning.
Yet more dragonflies descended on us during the night and we are nearly thirty miles off the land.
The weather is hotting up again as we approach Cartagena at noon and we are expecting temperatures of 24 – 26 degrees. It looks like a good excuse to flash up the barby again this evening as we pass Almeria, especially as it is Steve’s birthday today. Tony is busy making a cake which looks like it will need a stepladder to get to the top of!
Vince says hello to Alice and Ben and he’ll be home soon after nine months in Croatia. Tom is busy making Steve a birthday present and is missing Lucy and Charlie. Everyone else says hello to everyone else.
We are keeping the speed up to take advantage of the good weather at the moment and are scheduled to arrive at Gibraltar at noon tomorrow.
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Monday 22nd September
Nothing much happened during the night, which can only be good! We passed level with Marseilles and then plodded across the Golfe du Lion. Jim, the C/O, is not too impressed with anything to do with golf at the moment due to the results of the Ryder Cup!
It’s been a grey morning and not much incentive for late season tourists to lay on the beaches we have been passing at Palamos, Lloret de Mar, San Felieu de Guixols (they do a mean cremat – coffee and brandy set on fire – in the yacht club there) and Tossa de Mar.
We were almost up to Barcelona with it’s herd of cruise ships by noon and it started to rain. Outside work stopped and a serious investigation of Tony’s giant banana cake was put in hand.
We are rolling a bit now and having to keep a very good eye out for Spanish fishing boats. They must have had a bulk buy of white paint at some time and are quite difficult to see amongst the white horses.
As things go we should be down to Valencia by two in the morning.
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Sunday 21st September
Sunday at sea, same routine as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.........except cook Tony decided that enough time had elapsed since our departure from the pizza theme park in Croatia where the vessel was built to try his own version on us. I wasn’t convinced but he was right and the six different types that he cooked up were excellent.
We passed North of Elba during the night, hugging the coast until above the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, then altering course west across the top of Corsica through the Ligurian Sea. We’ve done Italy now and are heading towards Saint Tropez. Cannes is only thirty eight miles away and we are tempted to head there for ‘shelter’. Unfortunately the lack of wind and flat calm sea do not make that an option we can get away with!
Top barbeque tip: Is your grill all messy after the bbq season. Tie it on a piece of rope and tow it behind a ferry for six hours and it comes up all bright and shiny.
Top tip 2: Tie a good knot or it won’t come up at all!
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Saturday 20th September
Yesterday afternoon was spent relaxing by those not on watch until the urgent shout of ‘football overboard’ echoed up to the bridge. Footballs are hard to come by at sea so full astern thrust was applied, the vessel stopped, rescue boat launched within four minutes, ball recovered and the boat back on board and stowed in record time. We then nearly had a real ‘man overboard’ when someone mentioned that there was, in fact, a spare ball on board! Luckily it was then tea time.
During the late evening the wind came up again with very heavy rain and lightning and we had to divert into the Golfo di Salerno for shelter. Here we encountered hordes of large dragonflies out for an evening flight around the bay.
The most practical way for us then to get into the Golfo di Napoli was through the gap between Capri and Pta Campanella which we did at two in the morning, so lost out a bit on the scenery although it was still quite spectacular in the dark.
We have yet another gale warning for later on this evening so are running on three engines and edging closer inshore all the time to claw back some of our lost hours and endeavour to maintain our original ETA at Gibraltar of 1200 on the 25th
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Friday 19th September
We had to deviate up into the Bay of Taranto yesterday afternoon due to the wind direction but this gave us a nice peaceful run in the evening, a perfect excuse to dine on red snapper from the barbeque whilst watching the toe of Italy slide by.
Early morning saw us heading up the Straits of Messina to rendezvous with a small launch in Paradisio Bay where we said goodbye to the Volvo engineer.
The Straits are quite exciting as there are many ships and domestic ferries charging about in amongst the small fishing boats – which just carry on hauling their lines seemingly oblivious of everything going on round them. No-one seemed to be curious about the large ‘Wightlink’ logo floating about in between Sicily and Italy.
We caught a brief glimpse of Etna but had a much better view of Stromboli later in the day.
We are now heading NE in flat calm water towards the Bay of Napoli.
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Thursday 18th September
We are just passing Crotone at the bottom of the Gulf of Taranto in bright sunshine and shoals of flying fish and have now shut down two engines to get the ship down to a ‘Lymington River’ speed after the 15.1 knots that we recorded this morning.
Where is everyone this morning in the Wightlink Big Brother ferry?
Barbara and Hakan are on the bridge looking for Italy. Jim and I are in the diary room trying to fit a key safe so we don’t have to store the keys on the carpet any more. Tom is doing a compression test on his mattress. Nigel, Vince and James are seeing how much coffee they can get into one jar, something to do with the stability of the vessel. Tony, our cook, is experimenting with cooking times by seeing how long it takes to roast himself in the sun. Lee and Paul are recovering from scrambled egg, bacon, sausage and mushroom fatigue. Ron is trying to get a complete shower without the light going off during the process. Steve is doing useful things as usual.
Mattias, the Volvo engine rep, is trying to get us close enough to the land so that he can get off and go home to Gothenburg.
Some people have been playing darts on the car deck, no one is in the garden.
We should pass through the Straits of Messina about 0400 tomorrow morning.
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Wednesday 17th September
After a couple of minor hiccups we sailed only thirty minutes late from Kraljevica yesterday.
Tom, Paul and Lee had spent some time in the early morning dressing the ship overall, our flags reading ‘ZBOGOM HRVATSKA 2008 Q’ – meaning ‘Goodbye Croatia 2008’ with the ‘Q’ indicating that we had received a healthy ship from the shipyard.
We had an excellent four hour run down through the islands, ate Tony’s famous spaghetti bolognese and then ran slap into an unannounced Force 8 off Split. This forced us to do a six hour slow speed dogleg to get far enough East to be able to power back downwind on four engines towards the Southern Adriatic where we are now running past Vieste at 12.5 knots.
The wind showed us what an impressive sea boat the Wight Sky is with only light spray coming on deck all night.
At our present speed should be rounding the heel of Italy at 0600 GMT tomorrow
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Tuesday 16th September
Wight Sky sailed from Croatia at 1030 local time
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Monday 15th September 2008
Having experienced temperatures of up to 35 degrees C during the last two weeks it has suddenly dropped to 12 degrees and the local 'Bora' wind is blowing hard. The clue that the wind was coming was when all the bars in the town folded up their sunshades and stacked their chairs away! This means that we have had to postpone our departure today and hope to get away at 0800 GMT tomorrow.
This will be a healthy option for everyone as we cannot look another pizza in the face.
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